Les Bowen

STAFF WRITER

Les Bowen has covered the Eagles since 2002. Before that, he covered the Flyers for 13 years. He came to the Daily News from the Charlotte Observer in May 1983, just as the Sixers were winning the NBA championship. He thought, "Gosh, this sort of thing must happen all the time here."

Updated: Kevin Omell, agent for Ellis Hobbs, said the Eagles cornerback will go on IR with a neck injury for the second year in a row.

Asked what this might mean for Hobbs' career, Omell wrote in an email: "can't speak to that at the moment. Have to see what doctors say and how he feels in the coming months physically and mentally... Right now, he just feels fortunate to be walking."

Hobbs, 27, is playing on a one-year restricted free agent tender.

Earlier: Andy Reid, at his day-after news conference today, said an MRI exam on cornerback Ellis Hobbs' neck "showed some damage in there to another disk." Hobbs was injured when he returned the second-half kickoff against the Giants. His season ended after eight games last year because of a neck disk injury.

"We'll keep an eye on him, evaluate him," Reid said, who also said he did not yet know if Hobbs will need surgery, or is done for the year. "Hobbs' was a little bit of a bang-bang thing . . . the kickoff is a crazy deal. There have been a lot of injuries on kickoffs."

Reid said Hobbs would not play Sunday at Chicago. He also said cornerback Asante Samuel had a knee strain that he did not feel was serious.

As Reid was speaking, news broke about the Vikings firing their head coach, former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress. Childress has been replaced by another former Eagles assistant, Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

"I think Brad's record, collectively, has been unbelivable," Reid said. Childress took the Vikings to the NFC Championship game last year. Overall he was 40-37 but just 3-7 this year, with Minnesota again expected to be among the NFC elite. "Sometimes situations get a little crazy. But I know he's a heckuva football coach, tremendous football coach, and again, just look at the teams he's put out. They've been very, very good."

The Vikings visit the Eagles Dec. 26 and the Childress and Reid families had been planning to spend Christmas together, Reid said. He said he is proud to see Frazier, who got his NFL coaching start under Jim Johnson, get a head coaching job, but wishes it had not come at Childress' expense.

"Leslie is just a top-quality guy, man, and a sharp, sharp football man," Reid said. "He's been interviewed for a lot of head coaching jobs, because of the success he's had with the Vikings. I'm sure he'll do a nice job for 'em."

About the 27-17 win over Giants, Reid said: "Good win, tough win. We overcame some things. We need to overcome penalties. We need to be smart at times and maintain our focus. We need to know who is around us."

Reid was very happy with the lines. "I thought our defensive line and offensive line did well," he said. "Our defensive tackles played well, all four of them. They controlled the line. Our offensive line did a nice job. They threw all kinds of things at us and they did a good job. Michael [Vick] sorted it out and threw to the right guy. When they blitz like that, you have to maintain your composure and technique and 'want-to'. [LeSean] McCoy played a nice game. [Jeremy] Maclin played a nice game. And Jason Avant, had the drop, then came back and made two beautiful plays."

Reid was asked about backup QB Kevin Kolb warming up in the second half. "He [Vick] came up limping that one time," he said. "You have to be a tough nut to play that position. No matter how you cut it, your quarterback has to be one of the toughest guys on your team. And the way he plays, his style, you have to wired right."

Reid was asked about Vick taking a lot of hits against the Giants: "There are certain ones he needs to get down on," Reid said about quarterback running and not getting out of bounds or not sliding.

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